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Program for 7th African Rift Geothermal Conference, Kigali/ Rwanda – 29 Oct – 4 Nov. 2018

Program for 7th African Rift Geothermal Conference, Kigali/ Rwanda – 29 Oct – 4 Nov. 2018 ARGeo C7 - program, screenshot
Alexander Richter 18 Oct 2018

The 7th African Rift Geothermal Conference (ARGeo) will be taking place 29 October to 4 November 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda. The full program has now been published in the third circular document.

The Seventh Africa Rift geothermal Conference ( ARGeo-C7) is one of the UNEP ARGeo Biennial Geothermal Conferences being implemented  under its components of the “ Regional networking, information systems, capacity building and awareness creation”. This Conference will be held in the Kigali Convention Center, Rwanda from 29 October to 4 November 2018. The first six ARGeo conferences were held in Ethiopia (2006), Uganda (2008) Djibouti (2010), Kenya (2012), Tanzania (2014) and Ethiopia (2016) . The ARGeo steering committee at its sitting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2016 nominated Rwanda to host the 7th ARGeo Conference in 2018.

The conference will be hosted by the Government of Rwanda and is organized by UN Environment in collaboration with the Ministry of Infrastructure of Rwanda, Africa Union Commission, MFA-Iceland International Development Agency (MFA-ICEIDA), Africa Energy Branch of the International Geothermal Association (IGA-ARB) and other relevant partners.

Objective of the Conference

ARGeo C7 aims at promoting and supporting the geothermal development in the East Africa Region. The theme of ARGeo-C7 is “Geothermal: Solution to Africa Energy needs”.   This international conference will bring together policy makers, technical experts as well as developers and financiers of international and regional delegates. The conference will also provide a platform  to explore solutions how to: (i) mitigate the risks associated with resource exploration, (ii) reduce lead times in developing geothermal projects, (iii) to leverage investment to stimulate the growth of industry, and (iv) to effectively develop, construct, and operate successful geothermal power plants.

Expected Participants

This conference is expected to attract over 500 local, regional and international experts, policy makers developers and financiers from all over the world. Energy Ministers from East African Region and regional directors of investment and development banks are also expected to participate in the first Day of the Roundtable Ministerial Dialogue of the Conference in order to develop a strategy to accelerate development of geothermal resources in the region and endorse  the establishment  and consider  the Government of Kenya as a host of the Africa Geothermal center of Excellence (AGCE). This will be the basis for  legalization of the Africa owned and Africa Led center of Excellence.

Conference Activities:

It is expected that the President of Rwanda to officially open the Conference on 31 November 2018. The Prime Minister of Rwanda will close the conference on 2 November 2018 (see the enclosed draft programme).

The activities during the conference include:

29 October 2018: Ninth ARGeo Steering Committee meeting

30 October 2018: Sixth Africa Geothermal Center of Excellence meeting

29 -30 October 2018: Four parallel Pre-conference geothermal short course trainings. These trainings include:

  • Low to medium geothermal systems: Direct use application Convened and financed by MFA-ICEIDA and UN Environment
  • Geothermal Project Management and Financing: Convened and financed by MFA-ICEIDA and UN Environment
  • Reservoir Engineering and management: Convened and financed by US-Power Africa
  • Geothermal application Software: Conceptual model of geothermal Systems Convened and financed by New Zealand Geothermal facility and Sequence P.L.C

31 October 2018: Opening Ceremony and Ministerial Round Table Discussion

31 October-2 November 2018. Main conference: A total of 120 technical papers through four parallel technical sessions will be orally delivered. About 25 technical papers will be presented in the poster session. (Draft work Program enclosed)

31 October- 2 November 2018: Exhibitions where all private developers, manufacturers of various geothermal equipment showcase their products and services.

2 November 2018: Closing Ceremony and Resolutions of the conference

3-4 November 2018: Post Conference field trips to Gisenyi geothermal fields:

 

Expected Output:

  • Stimulated and spurred geothermal interest in private and public entities through bringing together more than 500 international and regional delegates that include policy makers, technical experts as well as developers and financiers.
  • Knowledge and best practices in geothermal resource exploration, development and utilization in Africa shared through presentation and discussion of more than 120 technical papers
  • New geothermal technologies, equipment and softwares showcased through exhibitions of products and services of  various geothermal related companies in Africa and elsewhere in the world.
  • Developed skill and Capacity for more than 100 experts in geothermal science and technology through conducting of four parallel Short courses
  • Strategy to accelerate geothermal development both in power generation and direct use application developed;
  • Solutions to leverage investment to stimulate the growth of industry addressed.
  • Awareness and Regional networking created; Partnership developed;

Conference Website

Conference Circular (third Circular, pdf)